Occasional furniture in the modern home comprises items of furniture, usually relatively small in comparison with the other pieces furnishing a room, which can be used on occasion when required. Such items need not be placed in a permanent position, but can be moved around according to its needs. It is not optional, but usually comprises useful items such as coffee tables and side tables.

If you look at antique French wing chairs, or newer chairs echoing the Louis XIV or Louis XV period, you may well see a lower seat in the bergère style. Similarly, in 18th century England Hepplewhite tried lowering the seat in his designs. He called the wings saddle-cheeks, perhaps knowing that they were called cheeks, not wings, in France. Ears is their other name, used in some parts of Europe, and remembered in the old-fashioned British name lug-chair. (Lugs is slang for ears.)